The socks do feature a Newcastle United wordmark in black on the back, but they look somewhat odd from the front with only white and gold visible. It’s not an oversight, though – the Toon never have the Puma logo in black.

Why? Because the puma is a member of the cat family and Newcastle’s rivals Sunderland are nicknamed The Black Cats.

Like Newcastle, Sunderland have a noticeable change for the coming season – and also a kit foible based on their rivals.

First off, the change: it’s looking likely that Sunderland will wear red shorts as first choice this season. The launch pictures showed the home shirt with both red and black shorts, but the black are also the set for the away shirt and, while both will be used with the home, images of new signings have featured the red.

Logic would say that white stripes might be worth trying every once in a while, but of course that would be representative of the Newcastle strip and so, like the black Puma logo for the Toon, they are a no-no.